The Long Goodbye
by Gundamwinggirl
Summary: They started out as misfits, and ended up as the best of friends. A philosophical view of the anime known as Wolf's Rain and those associated with it.


**Gwg: This was written for a friend when we made a bet on who was shorter, lol. I lost the bet (since I was taller)and as a result this is the fic I wrote her. It's most likely crappy, but please give it a read.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain or the song. The song is The Long Goodbye by Brooks and Dunn. I only own this story.**_

_**Wolf's Rain  
**__**One-shot  
**__**The Long Goodbye**_

They had traveled many miles together, but now their alliance had been severed. Through the eyes of wolves and man they had watched the dark days come upon them and eat them alive. Destiny, Fate, you could describe it many different ways, but in the end it all added up to the same outcome. In the beginning they had fought to stay alive, wolves and humans against eachother, but in the end they had forgot together to save eachother.

_Humanity...what is the meaning of it? Not all wolves are ravenous beasts driven by bloodlust, but not all humans are free of such accusations. Do wolves have humanity?_

Each of them had something to go back to in the end; a something that would keep them alive in memory. When the first one fell, his counterpart became the true meaning of a 'wolf'. Revenge ruled him as he fought his way up the cliff, seeing much death and destruction on his way. His ivorn fangs were stained with the blood of comrades and enemies alike.

_**-I know they say if you love somebody  
**__**you should set them free  
**__**but it sure is hard to do, sure is hard to do-**_

Memories drove them to insanity, but those same memories kept them on the edge of sanity as well. Time lost its meaning and slowly those that had been enemies transformed to allies in the end. Fights occurred, internally and externally, but in the end they all reached the same conclusion.

_Paradise...is this all we believe? Humans don't believe in wolves, and yet we are hunted by them. Wolves want a place free of humans, and yet we take them with us. What does it all mean?_

The young became old during the journey, growing up along the way. Those that were thought to be of little character showed to have the most in the end. The next to fall wasn't a true wolf, but that meant nothing in his eyes. All he noticed was her death, his rage, and the pain that was over taking his body. In the end his life was ended by one of his comrades, with the promise that they would soon meet again in Paradise.

_Everything comes back to Paradise. The humans, the nobles, us, everyone wants their own Paradise. Is it right, that this is what we seek?_

_**-I know they say if it don't come back again  
**__**then it's meant to be (or so they say)  
**__**Those words don't pull me through cause I'm still in love with you-**_

It was in their reach all along, but they realized too late that they had their Paradise. Four individuals who had nothing in common except for what they hid from the world, but now they had become the closest of comrades, adding a few more to their ranks. It started with four of them, and four slowly turned into eight. In the end five remained, but slowly five became two which became one.

_I still believe in you...I always have..._

Another death became added to those already gone. His eyes were captivating as he leaned back against the rock, a smirk on his face. He was not afraid of death for he knew that he would only be reunited with his friends. Yet Death was something that he did not want to face, for it would mean leaving one of his friends alone to fend for himself as well as the one he loved.

_Life...Death...what meaning do they hold for the immortal? A wolf's spirit always lives on, just like the memories of man. Can the Immortal die? From the ashes of death springs life...is that why we are here?_

_**-I spend each day here waitin' for a miracle  
**__**But it's just you and me goin' through the mill  
**__**climbin' up a hill-**_

He was the only one left; he was the only one that could continue the search for Paradise. Ivorn fangs dripped with crimson blood as he growled, his optics focused on the devil in front of him. Tsume, Blue, Toboe, Hige, Hub, Cher, and Cheza...he had caused all of them pain. His muscles rippled under his white pelt as he raced up the cliff, pushing himself to the limit and beyond.

Their deaths would not be in vain, because that was something that he would not allow. A bone chilling howl echoed as the white wolf made his first attack. Ivorn fangs tore at muscle and fur as they sunk into the black wolf's shoulder. Her soft cries reached his ears as he jumped away from the devil wolf and started to run towards her.

"Cheza!"

Her name escaped him as he tried to reach her, only to be taken down by the Wolf of Death. Darcia wasn't going to let this lowly wolf get to Paradise, for he was the first chosen one.

_There was so much I couldn't say...so much I couldn't do. If I was able to turn back time, could I save them? Is time something to be dealt with or is it just something we can't control?_

_**-this is the long goodbye  
**__**somebody tell me why,  
**__**two lovers in love can't make it,  
**__**just what kinda love keeps breakin' a heart  
**__**no matter how hard I try, I'll always make you cry  
**__**come on baby, it's over...let's face it  
**__**all that's happenin' here is a long goodbye-**_

His amber optics clashed with the two toned gaze of his opposer. He had searched for his Paradise and found it in the ring of his mis-matched friends. Their differences were more than their similarites, but in the end all they had wanted was to live without the fear of Man.

_Man...Wolf...maybe we aren't so different after all. We both seize the prize we want, and we both have religion. We believe in one God just as much as we believe in love and hate. War is nothing we don't understand, and it's sometimes the thing we long for...Is this what Paradise is? Understanding that which has eluded those before us?_

Crimson blood dripped to the ground, forming a puddle around the white wolf. It was ironic, how his pelt was white while his soul was tainted just as black as the wolf he was fighting. He had seen death, and more importantly he had caused it. Everyone around him had died for the dream he started. Everyone had died for the sake of a Paradise that they had had all along.

_**-sometimes I ask my heart did we really give our love a chance (just one more chance)  
**__**but I know without a doubt, we turned it inside out  
**__**and if we walked away would it make more sense-**_

_In her eyes I saw everything; every breath I've ever taken, every life I ever stole, and most importantly, the friends that I had lost and gained along the way. I could stare into her eyes forever, and yet they reminded me of all the blood lost a long the way..._

_**-but it tears me up inside, just to think we still could try  
**__**how long must we keep runnin' on a carousel  
**__**goin' round and round and never gettin' anywhere  
**__**on a wing and prayer-**_

In the end it was not the two wolves that fought, but it was for their cause that they sacrificed themselves. Only one would open the gates to Paradise, and that honour had to be earned. Kiba's blood stained the snow white ground as he collasped with only a Lunar flower for company. White snow drifted down from the heavens to cleanse away all the blood and death. Under it's coldness they lay unmoving, but they knew the outcome of the battle before it had a chance to begin.

Kiba had defeated Darcia, but neither gained the power to open Paradise. Cheza had been the key all along, but to Kiba she meant so much more.

_**-this is the long goodbye  
**__**somebody tell me why,  
**__**two lovers in love can't make it,  
**__**just what kinda love keeps breakin' a heart  
**__**no matter how hard I try, I'll always make you cry  
**__**come on baby, it's over...let's face it  
**__**all that's happenin' here is a long goodbye-**_

_When everything is said and done we never die. The steps we took in life are forever printed in the hearts of those we met along the way. Paradise is never unreachable, for when we find those we would give anything to protect we have found it. Time is never ending and it never stops. We must keep moving with time; we must never get thrown to the side. Goodbye never means Goodbye forever; it only means goodbye until we can see eachother again. It seems that we aren't so different from Man, because in the end we all strive for the same thing...Freedom._

_**-oh, long goodbye-**_

**Gwg: So how was this? Most likely crappy, but I liked it. So please review and until the next time, ja ne.**


End file.
